Is there a time jump in Stranger Things Season 5? Explained 

Stranger Things season 5 will close the cycle (image via Instagram/@strangerthingstv)
Stranger Things season 5 will close the cycle (image via Instagram/@strangerthingstv)

It finally looks like Netflix's popular sci-fi series Stranger Things is nearing the end of its run. Netflix recently declared that Stranger Things season five will premiere sometime in 2025 and will be the last installment of the entertaining franchise that debuted in 2016.

In keeping with the tradition of the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy opting for a year's worth of storytelling gap between successive seasons, the fifth and last installment will feature a significant eighteen-month time jump.

Stranger Things season five will be set in the fall of 1987. This was confirmed by the recently released teaser clip, which began with the line: "In the fall of 1987, one last adventure begins." The old gang of familiar characters will be reprising their roles and joined by a few new additions to the cast.

The show's fans expected the final season to hit the streaming platform giant sometime in 2026 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hollywood strikes. Nevertheless, it's good news that audiences will be able to witness the final battle to save Hawkins from the clutches of The Upside Down a little sooner!


Stranger Things Season 5 time jump details explained

The fourth season of Stranger Things saw most cast members trying their best to save the city of Hawkins from the sinister forces deployed by the Upside Down. The fourth season ended on a high note with a cliffhanger hinting at the total submission of Hawkins by Vecna. The closing image showed the group standing at a cliff, looking across a horizon shadowed by dark forces. This was the spring of 1986.

The fifth season will begin in the fall of 1987 and must address several questions regarding all that elapsed between the time jump. The action of the Netflix show might commence in media res, with the struggle against Upside Down already raging furiously. It can be surmised that the Hawkins depicted in the fifth season might differ from that seen in the fourth.

All of the preceding seasons of the show have had time jumps between them, with the first season ending with a month-long jump to Christmas, and season three even had a three-month time jump at the conclusion. However, an eighteen-month jump will be the longest in the show's narrative history.


What's the latest buzz around Stranger Things Season 5?

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Netflix dropped the teaser for the upcoming and final season on November 6, which, incidentally, is Stranger Things day or the day on which Will Byers first disappeared, setting the whole narrative in motion. Nell Fisher, Alex Breaux, and Jake Connelly will join the cast as new additions.

According to Deadline, Linda Hamilton is also expected to join the ensemble, judging by her announcement at the 2023 Tudum Global Fan Event, but the exact details are shrouded in mystery. The usual players will be back: Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, and Natalia Dyer.

Actor Jamie Campbell Bower was seen in a behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming season, where he declared:

"If season 4 was big, season 5 definitely feels bigger."

Stranger Things season 5 will premiere exclusively on Netflix.

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Edited by Priscillah Mueni